The Buzz

Another great sunny Saturday as I pull into the car park at Seaside Park. The breeze and sun are slowly roasting the track surface as the all of the racing machinery blast through hot laps. Mr. Naylor and his crew do what they can to keep the track surface from becoming a barren desert before even firing off a heat race.

IMCA heat races are fast and tough. Randy McGraw comes from sixth starting spot to win the first heat in his typical exciting fashion. The second heat goes to John Uccellini with Bill Waltman right on his tail. John Mead in the black 99 will take the win in the final IMCA heat. As usual the main event began with all the thunder and banging we have come to expect from the IMCA modifieds. Twenty plus cars roaring into the corner, jostling and jockeying for positions just filling the entire track with angry steel. Randy McGraw was the car to watch early on passing all over the track working his way to the front, but I look again and the 55P of Jack Parker has not only caught but passed McGraw and is up into third place. That old 55P just keeps on coming, nothing flashy, but that car has a way of finding the front. McGraw gets tangled up with someone sending him to the back. From there we are treated to a great race up front with Parker and Steve McGee battling for the lead and McGraw charging through the field again. In the end the win goes to Steve McGee who travels all the way from Carson City Nevada to race with us. Jack Parkers second place means that he takes over the points lead by just 1 point over Randy McGraw. Man this class is fun to watch and I enjoy every time they race with us.

John Mead

Photo: Buzzard

Nic Faas hangs it all out in the first of the Focus midget heats. Faas takes the first heat race driving a smooth line and leaving no opportunities for those behind him to slip by. Dennis Howell takes a couple of laps in the second heat race to move to the outside and into the lead. I enjoyed this because we do not often see the Focus cars move up off the bottom groove. For the main event there were a couple of yellow flags but that did not prevent Howell again using the high groove to shoot around the field and into the lead. Howell cleared out by a large margin but towards the end of the main Nic Faas had run him down and chased Howell across the finish line.

Scott Oliver Sr.

Photo: Buzzard

Jr Focus Midgets are exciting to watch and these young drivers are improving week after week. Point leader Alex Bowman takes the first heat race with Austin Mero all over him. Justin Kierce continues his dominating form, another convincing heat race win to add to the racing resume. With the fog beginning to roll in from the ocean the Jr Focus main was underway with Scott Oliver Jr leading the first few laps. Justin Kierce worked a smooth line and took advantage of the other drivers mistakes however small. Kierce slowly worked his way up through the field running the pole line and held on to win after several yellow flags.

Dennis Howell

Photo: Buzzard

David Peterson and Joel Chavez dominate the sport compact class. They are the only two drivers to have made all of the races this season. Chavez is first in points, Peterson is second and they both bring home heat race wins. Good to see two heats of sport compacts for the first time in a long while. The main event for the first time in a very long time goes to someone other than the bright orange 20 of Joel Chavez. Randal Dougan in the 01 jumps to the lead from his outside front row starting spot and clears out from the rest of the field for his first win of the season.

Nic Faas

Photo: Buzzard

The first heat race for the VRA sprint cars has a lot of action. Right off the bat Dennis Rodriguez and Jimmy Crawford are battling for the lead with a pack of cars a little further back all jostling for position. Bruce Douglas and Rick Hendrix make a little contact and drift up in front of Johnathon Henry who is trying to go round the outside of both of them sending Henry into a vicious flip in turn three. After the red flag is cleared Kevin Kierce shows us that he was just waiting for an opening by blasting through the field from the rear using the high line to take the heat race win. Heat two sees Greg Taylor come from the rear to pass the field for the win. Dwayne Marcum makes a nice slide job on the final lap to take the last transfer from heat two. Brian Camarillo is the star of heat race number three, bringing home a convincing win. Luis Espinoza fights off Derek Buckley to win the final sprint car heat of the evening. The semi main event is an all out charge for the transfer positions when all is said and done Bruce Douglas takes the win in convincing fashion. The fog has been rolling in all night and is getting quite thick by the time the sprint car main is pushing off. My neighbor leans over to me and says, “Finally, get some hot steel out there to clear this mist out of here”. Tonight noone is hotter than Eric Severson. Severson grabs the lead early and disappears off into the fog. Greg Taylor and Kevin Kierce work furiously through the pack looking for the lead, Luis Espinoza hangs tough in second for the first part of the race even challenging for the lead on one of the restarts but Severson has his car wound up and fights off all challengers to take his first VRA feature main event. The real battle on the track was further back with Taylor, Kierce and Espinoza all throwing daring slide jobs throughout the race even in traffic. In the end Greg Taylor claims second, Brian Camarillo rallies to throw a couple of last lap sliders on Kevin Kierce to come home third just in front of the yellow 2s with Espinoza rounding out the top five. Great win for Severson, he has had several solid runs but tonight he dominated and was the class of the field. Exciting racing behind him kept the fans entertained throughout the great main event.